It's a Small World After All Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cuba

The Republic of Cuba had its beginnings (outside of aboriginal inhabitants) with the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492 on his first voyage to the New World. Claimed for the Kingdom of Spain, the first colony was founded in 1511, and Cuba remained under Spanish rule until the conclusion of the Spanish-American War in 1898, when Spain ceded any claim to the country under the Treaty of Paris. The Republic of Cuba was officially born in 1902, when Cuba gained full independence from the United States. Fidel Castro took power after the revolution that began in 1953, successfully ousting dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959.

As for its size, Cuba (the main island) ranks as number 17 in the world at 104,556 square km. The other contenders in this question rank number 1 (Greenland - 2,130,800 km^2), number 4 (Madagascar - 587,713 km^2), and number 9 (Great Britain - 209,331 km^2).

And the photo... Cuba is known for its high-quality cigars.

Answer: Rio Grande

The Rio Grande starts out in the state of Colorado, heads south to Mexico, where it proceeds to form a natural border between Mexico and the United States (between Texas and the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas) before draining into the Gulf of Mexico at Brownsville / Matamoros. Despite it's roughly 3,000 km length, the river is generally very shallow, and not very navigable, even for small boats. The Mexican name for the river is the Rio Bravo del Norte.

River lengths change, but even given its variable length (approximately between 2,896 and 3,057 km, according to Wikipedia), the Rio Grande clocks in at number 27 on the list of the world's longest rivers. The longer choices hold places number 3 (Yangtze River - 6,300 km), number 6 (Yellow River - 5,464 km), and number 14 (Niger River - 4,200 km).

The photo shows the Rio Grande in the background of the marked border between the USA and Mexico at Brownsville / Matamoros.

Answer: Mount Fuji

Japan's Mount Fuji is, in fact, an active volcano that last erupted in 1707. Located on Honshu Island only about 100 kilometers from Tokyo, it reaches a height of 3,776 meters. The lone mountain is so distinctive that it has become a well-known symbol of Japan.

Mountains generally have two measurements -- their elevation above sea level, and their prominence (the vertical distance from the peak to the lowest contour line encircling it and no other peak). I will be using the ranking based on each mountain's prominence.

At 3,776 meters, Mount Fuji makes number 35 on the all-time tallest mountains list. The competitors in this question rank number 2 (Aconcagua - 6,962 m), 3 (Mount McKinley - 6,138 m), and number 4 (Mount Kilimanjaro - 5,882 m).

The photo shows a FujiFilm camera.

Answer: Lake Winnipeg

Lake Winnipeg is located north of the city of Winnipeg, which is the capital of the province of Manitoba in Canada. The word 'winnipeg' comes from the Cree language and translates as 'muddy water'. Lake Winnipeg is a very long lake, extending from its southernmost point (approximately 55 kilometers north of the city of Winnipeg) a total of 416 km to the north-northwest. At its widest, it is approximately 100 km wide.

At 23,553 square kilometers, Lake Winnipeg is the 3rd largest lake (by area) entirely within Canada, the 7th largest lake in North America, and the 12th largest lake in the world. Even with those impressive numbers, it is still smaller than number 2 (Lake Superior - 82,414 km^2), number 3 (Lake Victoria - 69,485 km^2), and number 7 (Lake Baikal - 31,500 km^2).

P.S. - Those rankings count the Caspian Sea as large lake number 1.

And if you had no clue about the photo, the Golden Boy stands atop the legislative building in Winnipeg.

Answer: Arctic Ocean

Of course, there is really only one global ocean, but for the purposes of this quiz, we'll go with the five oceans that are defined by the landforms around them. In order from largest to smallest the oceans of the world are as follows:

1) Pacific Ocean
2) Atlantic Ocean
3) Indian Ocean
4) Southern (or Antarctic) Ocean
5) Arctic Ocean

The Wikipedia page "Borders of the Oceans" gives quite good detailed descriptions of each ocean's boundaries.

The photo depicts an iceberg off the coast of Newfoundland (Canada).

Answer: Maine

The state of Maine the United States' most northeasterly state, nestled between New Hampshire, Québec and New Brunswick (and the Atlantic Ocean). Originally part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts until its residents voted in 1820 to form their own political entity, at which point they were admitted to the Union as the 23rd state.

Within the United States, Maine is the 39th largest state, with an area of 91,646 square kilometers. The other three 'M' states in this question rank number 11 (Michigan - 250,494 km^2), number 21 (Missouri - 180,533 km^2), and number 32 (Mississippi - 125,434 km^2).

The picture is of a lovely Maine Coon cat.

Answer: Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island was named for the Prince Edward who lived from 1767 to 1820, and who was the father of Queen Victoria. P.E.I. joined Canadian Confederation in 1873, six years after the birth of Canada as a nation. This was somewhat ironic, in that the first conference to explore the possibility of Confederation was held in Charlottetown, P.E.I.'s capital, in 1864.

Along with its 231 minor islands, the main island makes the province of P.E.I. for a total area of 5,685 square kilometers. That not only makes it the smallest province among those listed in the question, but also the smallest in Canada (10th on the list, or 13th if you count the territories).

The other three options hold the three spots just above P.E.I. on the list: holding 9th (or 12th) is Nova Scotia with an area of 55,284 km^2, at 8th (11th) is New Brunswick with an area of 72,908 km^2, and at 7th (10th) is Newfoundland and Labrador with an area of 405,212 km^2.

And the photo? Potatoes are the main export from P.E.I. - one of the things that the province is well-known for.

Answer: Johannesburg

Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa, although it is not one of the country's three capital cities. Those are Cape Town (the legislative capital), Pretoria (the administrative capital), and Bloemfontein (the judicial capital). Johannesburg, though, IS the home of the Constitutional Court, which is the final court of appeal in all matters concerning post-Apartheid law. It is also the capital of the Gauteng province. Why is it named Johannesburg, you ask? When the area was first developed as a settlement, it was named after two surveyors: Johannes Meyer and Johannes Rissik.

While populations will change, Johannesburg's population (as of 2012 according to worldatlas.com) is approximately half that of its closest competitor on this list. Including the metropolitan area, Johannesburg's population count of 7,618,000 put it at number 41 in the world. At number 5 was Shanghai (20,860,000), at number 9 was São Paulo (20,186,000), and at number 16 was Moscow (15,512,000).

UPDATE FOR 2022 - Johannesburg's greater metropolitan area now exceeds 10 million (if West Rand and Lenasia are included in the calculation).

Depicted in the photo are decorations for the World Cup of Soccer, held in South Africa in 2010.

Answer: Chihuahuan Desert

Named after the Mexican state of Chihuahua, the Chihuahuan desert actually covers portions of US states New Mexico and Texas, in addition to Mexican states Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Zacatecas, and Nuevo León. At 362,600 square kilometers, it is the second largest desert in North America (after the Great Basin Desert in the USA), and number 11 in the world.

As regards the Chihuahuan Desert's competitors in this question, coming in at number 3 is the Sahara Desert (9,400,000 km^2), at number 4 is the Arabian Desert (2,330,000 km^2), and at number 5 is the Gobi Desert (1,295,000 km^2).

If you're wondering who holds numbers 1 and 2 on the list - those are the Antarctic and Arctic Deserts, respectively.

And, of course, that is a Chihuahua in the photo.

Answer: Spain

There is a lot that could be said about the country of Spain. I think I will limit it to a couple of tidbits here that I found interesting. In Spanish, the country is called España, and THAT is based on the Roman name for the region - Hispania. Why the Romans chose that name, however, is still a matter of some dispute. Spanish colonial legacy has managed to make the Spanish language the world's second-most spoken FIRST language.

Geographically, Spain has an area of 505,992 square kilometers, making it the 5th-largest country in Europe, and number 52 in the world. China holds number 3 with 9,706,961 km^2, Brazil is number 5 with 8,514,877 km^2, and Kazakhstan is number 9 with 2,724,900 km^2.

The photo shows a bullfighter in action in Spain.